Weslake

Weslake is a former manufacturer of automotive engines and now supplies the aerospace industry with special diesel engines for light aircraft.

Cylinder heads for the automotive industry,

Weslake Research and Development was established in the mid -1950s by Harry Weslake. The company initially produced cylinder heads and worked closely with Jaguar Cars together. Weslake supplied aluminum cylinder heads for the Austin -Healey 100S race car. Until the early 1970s Weslake cylinder heads came in almost all of Jaguar V12 engines used.

Racing engines

The first race engine built Weslake 1958 Vanwall; a 4- cylinder in-line engine for the successful Formula 1 race cars. With this engine, the British team won the first Constructors' title in Formula 1 history. 1966 developed a Weslake V12 engine for the Eagle T1G the AAR Eagle team of Dan Gurney. Weslake built the motor according to the rules in force in Formula 1 from 1966 3 liter engine regulations. The 3-liter 12-cylinder engine with four overhead camshafts was very short (800 mm) and lightweight (175 kg) and had 4 valves per cylinder, standing together in a narrow angle ( 30 °). The engine, which was described by Weslake as Type 3000 or Weslake 58, originally had 271 kW ( 364 hp). The gear problems that occurred the first time in his debut at Monza, could later not be completely solved. But the engine had plenty of power, but the production was never aimed at a series and each was unique. The team had been struggling to keep up with the different engine power of the engines and hardly any part could be exchange from engine to engine. Only when Gurney and engine maintenance took over in the own factory, the problems have been fixed. As an example of the different performance of the aircraft engines used figures from the Monaco Grand Prix in 1967, where the engine of Dan Gurney's Eagle made ​​417 hp, which his team-mate Richie Ginther but only 411 Eagle won with the Weslake engine twice in Formula 1 race, the Belgian Grand Prix was one of the World Cup of the season 1967.

In 1973 a revised version of this engine at the Mirage M6 used. The project was abandoned after the first test drives. The Ford V8 engines, the GT40 by John Wyer in 1968 and 1969 had Gurney - Weslake cylinder heads; the British racing team Wyer won the award two years, the 24 - hour race at Le Mans. The good connection to Ford introduced in the 1970s, the concept of the RS2600 engine in the Ford Capri. At this time Weslake also built engines for speedway motorcycles.

Weslake today

After the death of Harry Weslake 1978, the company was divided into two parts. His stepson Daniel builds engines for small aircraft and his grandson Dean 's responsibilities at Weslake Heritage to the service for older Weslake engines.

Literature and sources

• David Hodges: race car from A to Z 1945 engine book publishing house, Stuttgart 1994, p 81, ISBN 3-613-01477-7.
• John Horsman: Racing in the Rain. Bull Publishing Ltd.. , Phoenix 2006, ISBN 1-893618-71-4.